Santamarina y Steta

The ‘very professional and well-prepared’ team at Santamarina y Steta is composed of lawyers based across the firm’s three offices - located in Mexico City, Monterrey and Querétaro. The group handles M&A and joint venture transactions (including the drafting and negotiating of transaction agreements and related due diligence), as well as corporate mandates such as incorporations, dissolutions and company spin-offs in the automotive, pharmaceutical, retail, hospitality and manufacturing sectors. Practice heads Juan Carlos Machorro and Jorge León Orantes lead the department from Mexico City. Machorro handles the development and implementation of investment and financing projects in Mexico, while Orantes focuses on M&A, corporate advisory and financing transactions. Additional key corporate and M&A contacts in Mexico City include Pablo Laresgoiti, Alberto Saavedra and Aarón Levet. In Monterrey, César Cruz Ayala and Guillermo Moreno are the names to note; José Ramón Ayala works from the Querétaro office and specialises in M&A, public tenders and project finance. Associates Ilse Bolaños and Daniela Flores support from Mexico City and Monterrey, respectively. However, senior associate Diego Acosta left the firm in May 2023, as did Carlos Argüelles of the Monterrey office in August 2023.